FATX

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FATX is a slightly modified version of the FAT filesystem, and is designed for Microsoft's Xbox video game console hard disk drive, used in an effort to reduce software piracy.

The Xbox also uses FATX on its memory cards, so to read them on a PC (or indeed write to them in a way an Xbox would understand) a special application must be used (the cards themselves connect to the console/PC via an Xbox controller, which is (electronically) USB; hardware-level connectivity is not a problem).

Action Replay is one such application/USB hardware reads FATX giving it the ability to store game saves on a PC.

[edit] FatX related applications

FatX Xplorer is an application for managing FatX partitions/drives. Another tool like that is Xplorer360.

[edit] Differences between Xbox FATX and MS-DOS FAT Timestamp

FAT Date Format:
A FAT directory entry date stamp is a 16-bit field that is basically a date relative to the MS-DOS epoch of 01/01/1980.
Here is the format (bit 0 is the LSB of the 16-bit word, bit 15 is the MSB of the 16-bit word):
Bits 0–4:Day of month, valid value range 1-31 inclusive.
Bits 5–8: Month of year, 1 = January, valid value range 1–12 inclusive.
Bits 9–15: Count of years from 1980, valid value range 0–127 inclusive (1980–2107).

FAT Time Format:
A FAT directory entry time stamp is a 16-bit field that has a granularity of 2 seconds.
Here is the format (bit 0 is the LSB of the 16-bit word, bit 15 is the MSB of the 16-bit word).
Bits 0–4: 2-second count, valid value range 0–29 inclusive (0 – 58 seconds).
Bits 5–10: Minutes, valid value range 0–59 inclusive.
Bits 11–15: Hours, valid value range 0–23 inclusive.

FATX Date Format:
A FATX directory entry date stamp is a 16-bit field that is basically a date relative to the XBOX epoch of 01/01/2000.
Here is the format (bit 0 is the LSB of the 16-bit word, bit 15 is the MSB of the 16-bit word):
Bits 0–4: Day of month, valid value range 1-31 inclusive.
Bits 5–8: Month of year, 1 = January, valid value range 1–12 inclusive.
Bits 9–15: Count of years from 2000, valid value range 0–127 inclusive (2000–2127).

FATX Time Format:
same as in FAT